Most executives aren’t. That’s because job search has changed drastically in the last 18 months. It’s a fiercely competitive market out there and the tactics that worked in the past are no longer working. If you’d like a seasoned job search coach to give you a road map, walk you through a step-by-step process, and explain all the ins and outs of job search, you might want to check out this program http://www.harveycareers.com/six-figure-job-search-program.html.

This six figure job search coach has helped thousands of senior executives land a position…And she can help you as well.

I can vouch for Beverly – she is very well respected in the industry – she cares about the job seeker, the process, and helping you get results. She is current on her techniques and she trains other job search coaches.

If you are stuck, like I was, check out her program (and the audio on this page titled “5 Powerful Strategies to Accelerate Your Job Search so you can land your next position fast.”) The program is designed for six-figure earners – even if you don’t sign up for her program you should print off her information page and read/study it like a book – compare what you are doing to the points she has there.

Recently I was watching a teen news program while doing Saturday morning chores with the kids and got to see an interview with Lee Unkrich, the director/producer of Toy Story 3.

He was asked what his role was as the director and he said something like “I have to nurture the story along,” or something like that.

Two things caught me from that response…

My first thought was that his entire team of storywriters might have thought “well that’s kind of pompous, sounding like he was the one who really evolved the story to what it was. What are we, chopped liver?”

I think it’s important to communicate your role on a team without sounding like you did all the great, important stuff.

Really, though, this was minor compared to my second thought:

He said he “had to…”

My heavens… how many thousands of aspiring movie people would have loved the opportunity to be involved with Toy Story 3, especially at that level!

It made me think about what I do, and my obligations:

Do I describe things that I do, or have done, with the words “had to” or “have to?”

These are all things that I “have to” do… but let’s change one word and get a totally different feeling about my work, my pride, my ownership:

I get to write two articles a week for AOL. I know plenty of people who would like the exposure I can get from being a writer for AOL.

I get to direct my JibberJobber team with the design and creation of new features. I have been blessed to have a team to work with, and to have the responsibility to create stuff that helps so many people while developing a sustainable business.

I get to go to the mail, see if I got any checks, and then take them to the bank to deposit them. It wasn’t too long ago that there weren’t checks to deposit. As a business owner it’s a delight to deposit a check.

I get to do more video recordings so my users can get training for their job search. I am fortunate to be a recognized subject matter expert and thought leader in this space, and feel lucky that people care about what I have to say.

I get to revise my LinkedIn book. How many people get to revise a published book they’ve written? How lucky am I that it has sold well enough that it needs a third edition?

I get to finish my third book, which is a peek into the life of two entrepreneurs. Not only is this exciting because it’s my third book, but I’ve gotten enough experience that I can actually write a book like this. This is something I never would have dreamed about years ago!

See the different between HAVE TO and GET TO? Did Tom Hanks have to be involved in the Toy Story movies, or did he GET TO?

I don’t fault the Unkrich for his choice of words – it is common to say what we have to do. But the next time someone asks you about what you’ve done, try explaining what you got to do, instead of what you had to do. It changes the spirit of your message!

I shared two very cool examples of how to position yourself as a subject matter expert and/or thought leader with Thom Singer and Marty Val Hill.

Here’s something that’s been on my mind for years. About four years ago I was a relatively new blogger. I wanted to network with other bloggers and thought that recruiters could be great evangelists for JibberJobber. In general, that was a very bad assumption – most recruiters were so busy with their job that they really didn’t have much advice for job seekers….

Anyway, I blogged alongside many recruiters. Back then there weren’t many resume writers or career coaches that were blogging, so these were the closest I got to identifying my career-minded peers online.

I didn’t realize how problematic it was at the time but I saw it a few months later… most recruiters were blogging to… get this… eachother!

They were trying to establish relationships with one another (that’s fine). They were trying to show one another who had what expertise. They were talking to one another.

I guess that’s okay, with one major exception:

These bloggers were not talking with/to candidates (the job seeker).

And they were not talking with/to clients or potential clients (in other words, with companies who would hire them).

It was like a lot of inbred messaging… and frankly, probably a waste of everyone’s time.

If I had a recruiter come to me today and ask what they should blog about I would tell them to write to their audience.

Who’s the audience?

Not fellow recruiters.

Maybe not candidates.

Follow the money… the audience has to include the client – the company that writes the checks to the recruiter.

Sorry to use another professional speaker in the case studies (tomorrow it won’t be a professional speaker (for the BAD example), but this is a tactic that I learned of and thought OH MY GOSH THAT IS BRILLIANT! Yesterday’s case study on Thom Singer’s series is here.

Marty Val Hill is a professional speaker who talks about… well, I really don’t know what he specializes in. I met him at the local chapter of the National Speakers Association.

He told the audience (of speakers) that he ran a LinkedIn Group for … who? Speakers? NO – for the people who HIRE SPEAKERS!

His competitors, of course (well, many speakers don’t see other speakers as “competitors”). But also people who hire speakers… meeting planners/professionals.

Marty, as the owner, has access to almost 10,000 people in his space… I don’t know how many of those are decision makers and how many are other speakers, but even if there are 1,000 meeting professionals, that is a HUGE database that he has access to, as the owner.

The point here is to figure out not who your peers are but who your audience is. Who is it you want to impress – people who you compete against (nothing wrong with that) or people who are in a position to hire you?

And, as the owner of a LinkedIn Group he can send an “announcement,” which is essentially an opt-in newsletter that goes through LinkedIn’s system… very, very powerful.

This really is brilliant… notice he formed the group back in 2007… my recommendation to you is to look for Groups on LinkedIn that you should belong to… and if you see a gap, think about filling it!

Do you think that Marty, as the owner of this Group, has positioned himself as a subject matter expert or thought leader?

He’s author of a lot of books. He’s a professional and business speaker who is nichifying (I made that word up – it’s a luxury of being a blogger :p) himself as a CONFERENCE SPEAKER.

How brilliant is that. There are tons of speakers out there and the successful ones can easily identify and differentiate themselves. I’ve never heard of someone who specializes in making sure a conference goes well, and attendees really get a lot out of it.

Thom Singer is the guy who you need to speak at your conference… that’s the brand he’s creating.

Okay – now here’s the brilliant part. Seriously brilliant.

Thom can get up on the highest building in Austin and say “I’m your speaker – hire me!” He can do it on social media and other places… he’d be crazy to do so…

Why?

The message is ALL WRONG.

When people hire the speaker they aren’t just hiring the person who has the loudest voice… they need to hire THE EXPERT. Maybe even the THOUGH LEADER, if the thought leader isn’t a nut-job.

Here’s what Thom is doing that is crazy brilliant – he’s establishing his subject matter expertise and thought leadership in a series of 10 posts (you can write 10 posts, can’t you??) that is — and this is key — directly communicating to the meeting planner (think: hiring manager). This is the person who will make the decision on who to bring in.

In these ten posts Thom proves that he’s the guy…. not by saying how great he is, but by sharing his subject matter expertise and thought leadership.

After reading through these posts how could a meeting planner not realize that Thom is going to “get the job done!” That is, he’s going to bring excitement and success and empowerment to each attendee.

The lesson here is talk to your purchaser/influencer. Don’t tell them how great you are, show them.

These posts show more of Thom Singer’s breadth and depth as a conference speaker/expert. And clearly, if you bring him in to speak, he’s going to partner with you to make sure the audience gets tons of value out of the entire conference, not just a one our keynote.

How do you apply this to your situation? If you can’t figure it out, read the next two blog posts…

When I talk about personal branding I suggest that a goal is to become a recognized subject matter expert and/or thought leader in your space.

One question I got a lot when I spoke to the MBA orientation audience at Pepperdine was “what do I blog about?”

I was really thrilled to get this question because most audiences are overwhelmed with the idea of getting a nice LinkedIn profile, and then maybe rethinking their Facebook strategy, and perhaps exploring Twitter.

I talk about a number of useful tools, as part of my Comprehensive Social Marketing Strategy, and say that I think the blog is the anchor of your strategy.

The blog is so very important and useful.

So when the Pepperdine MBA candidates asked what to blog about, and we explored that, I was elated as I thought “yes! They get it!”

Tomorrow and Thursday I’m going to share two awesome examples, case studies if you will, on how to develop yourself as a subject matter expert, or case study.

Many of you know I have a goal to walk 500 miles this year. It’s not going as good as I like (I’m at about 300, which means a lot of walking between now and Dec 31!)… but I want to talk about someone else in this post: Marc Wolfsfield.

Here’s what Marc recently put up on Facebook:

How outstanding is that?

Congrats Marc!

I don’t know what it’s done for his health but I’m guessing he has toned a muscle here and there, just by WALKING!

My own walking has had tremendous health benefits that I didn’t count on.

I’m not sure if what I want to tell you is to walk regularly, like I’ve tried to do.

Or if I really want to tell you to set a goal and work towards it AND ACCOMPLISH IT.

Or if I want to tell you that in a job search you have time to do something like this (I give you permission to take time out of your job search to exercise regularly, especially if you neglected it when you were employed).

Maybe I’m just bragging that I’ve walked 300 miles so far this year, which is about 298 miles more than I walked last year.